


The Old Guard

by Lying_potato



Series: Hogwarts AU [4]
Category: The Fairy Tale Enchantress - K. M. Shea, Timeless Fairy Tales - K. M. Shea
Genre: Cindy/Fred if you squint, F/M, Gen, Pricker Patch is a place, Puss still doesn't like Steffen, Steffin/Gabi too, The Arcainian Princes are an epidemic, let's play a game of spot the cameo, not a donkey, we got a lottttt of background characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29529231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lying_potato/pseuds/Lying_potato
Summary: Even though she has no other choice, Gemma certainly doesn't trust Rumpelstiltskin and his many secrets. And that's before he leads her to this shady building in the middle of Hogsmeade called the Pricker Patch.
Series: Hogwarts AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2169327
Kudos: 4





	The Old Guard

**Author's Note:**

> got a bit of a time-skip here
> 
> Current Chronological Order:
> 
> Sorting  
> Fight  
> Greenhouse  
> **The Old Guard**

* * *

“You’re sure this is safe?” Gemma eyes the rickety, wooden door of the dilapidated building with suspicion. She can hear the drunken shouting and cheering even from outside, and grips her wand a little tighter. “It looks a bit...dodgy.”

“Trust me. The _Pricker Patch_ is the safest place I know,” Stil says with such confidence that Gemma lets a bit of her paranoia melt away. _He hasn’t let me down yet_ , she reminds herself. 

Stil, wand in hand, taps on the door twice. A wisp of magic escapes, curling into a tiny, silvery-smoky pegasus. All at once, the crowd of people inside hushes and Gemma feels a cold trickle of fear of _what if this is a trap, what if Torgen’s waiting inside, what if I was stupid enough to trust the wrong person_ —

“Rumpelstiltskin, with a friend,” Stil calls out loudly, and immediately, the noise resumes. He gives her an encouraging nod before opening the door and stepping through first. 

Gemma takes a deep breath and follows, wand at the ready, bracing for curious eyes and questions as she walks in-

And then her jaw drops because not only is the inside of the _Pricker Patch_ —spacious, clean quarters—completely different from the outside, but she _recognizes_ nearly all the faces within; after all, she’s grown up seeing them laughing, yelling, and running down the halls of Hogwarts for the past half a dozen years.

“Wotcher, Gemma.” Cinderella Lacreux, a Hufflepuff who had graduated during Gemma’s fourth year, smiles at her while her companion— _Friedrich_?—gives a cheeky wink. Gemma doesn’t know how someone with only one eye manages to wink, but it’s quite impressive of him.

She manages a gobsmacked nod in response before continuing on.

A roar of laughter comes from the group with red and gold scarves in the corner—among them, she picks out Elle Ranger, a former Gryffindor Chaser, and Gabrielle Marquise, who had been Head Girl all the way back when Gemma was a _second year_. She does a double take upon spotting the infamous Animagus Roland there as well, lounging in a chair with a fat cat purring in his lap and occasionally sneaking glares at a handsome blond wizard beside Gabrielle.

_Oh, Linnea would **love** this._ Gemma thinks, feeling a little dizzy seeing the gathering of past and present Hogwarts students around her.

More familiar faces dot the room: another former Hufflepuff, Isaia, deep in conversation with a mustachioed gentleman. The Ravenclaw brothers Severin and Lucien, eying her contemplatively. Odette and Zina, a pair of former Slytherin girls, furtively discussing something with a bunch of hooded figures. And what looks to be a plague of Arcainians crowded around an arm-wrestling contest between a dark-haired witch and a grinning bloke wearing a straw hat, which is probably the least surprising thing about today.

“Welcome, Miss Kielland,“ Stil says proudly, beaming as bright as she’s ever seen him, “to the Order of the Summit.”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the TFT-version of the Order of the Phoenix....hoooo boy that's a lot of faces. Guess who's arm-wrestling in that corner?


End file.
